Wire fabric loom



1944- N. s. HARTE 2,355,159

' WIRE FABREIC LOOM Filed June 8, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR: /V04H6. #49759,

fHls ATTORN Aug 8, 1944. N. s. HARTER 2,355,159

WIRE FABRIC LOOM I Filed June 8, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE- 2. 66 4'0 y3/ 7a 52 .df w/qa A,

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( HIS ATTORNEY- Aug. 8, 1944. N. s. HARTER 2,355,159

WIRE'FABRIC LOOM Filed June 8, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR /VO4/-/ 5.#45756,

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HIS ATTORN Aug. 8, 1944. N a A T 2,355,159

WIRE FABRI C LOOM Filed Jun 8, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 @IZWS Patented Aug.8, 1944 WIRE FABRIC LOOM Noah S. Harter, Waukegan, Ill., assignor to TheAmerican Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, a corporation of NewJersey Application June 8, 1942, Serial No. 446,221 9 Claims. (Cl.139-122) While not limited thereto, the present invention is well suitedfor incorporation in wire fabricating machines'such as disclosed in mycopending application Serial No. 234,853, filed October 13, 1938,entitled Hardware and screen cloth machine and in the Welded selvagescreen cloth loom disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,245,584,

dated June 17, 1941.

In common with the subject matter of my copending application and myprior patent, the

present invention has as one of its objects the elimination of theconventional bobbin and shuttle for the introduction of the weft wireinto interwoven relation with the warp wires and to provide in lieuthereof means for introducing appro priate length of weft wire into theshed of warp wires by transverse feeding in cooperation with a guideassociatedwith the reed of a heater frame, whereby the weft wire isprovided in relatively endless amounts.

The main object of the present invention is to speed up the productionfor wire looms. A further object is to provide means whereby the speedof the reed panel or beater frame is increased and the stroke thereofmaterially shortened, A further object is to provide means whereby theweft wires can be fed into guides in the reed dents on both the forwardand return strokes of the beater Another object is to provide fixed andframe. movable weft wire guides connected by a flexible closed guideelement. A further object is to provide means operable in response tomovement of the beater frame for severing the weft wire just prior tothe time it is beat up into the shed of warp wires.

- The invention will be fully apparent from a. consideration of thefollowing disclosure when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a transverse section through awire in mypatent above referred to and illustrating I l, Figure 3 is a plan viewof Figure 2 illustrating uie'teaer frame in its extreme forwardposition; Figure 4 is a similar plan view showing the beater frame in aretractedposition;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail section on line VV of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 in the opposite direction, takenon line VI-Vlof Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of the weft wire shear;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a fixed cam plate adapted to actuatethe weft wire shear; and

Figure 9 i -a detail view on an enlarged scale taken approximately online IXIX of Figure 1,

illustrating the actuating means for the beater frame and showing thegeneral arrangement of the reed dents carried thereby and theirrelationship to the heddle frames of a wire fabric loom.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numerals III-i0 represent theside frames of the loom which support the cross shaft l2 about thecenter of which the beater frame H oscillates in response to movementsimparted thereto by a race cam l6 secured to a shaft l8.- The beaterframe I4 carries a cam follower 20 which rides in an eccentric camgroove 22. The contour of this groove is substantially circular andeccentric to the axis of the shaft I8, thus providing momentary dwellportions in each dead center region of maximum and minimum throw of thecam. Thus the cam imparts substantially a true crank motion withmomentary dwells at points corresponding to diametrically opposite deadcenter positions. These dead center portions of the cam allow sufficienttime for the weft wire length which has been v fed into the bite of thewarp wires to be held until the heddles have reversed themselves.

The machine is equipped with conventional heddle frames 24 and 26carrying conventional heddle wires 28' and 30 actuated by anyconventional type of loom harness for-alternately shifting the warpwires L so as to form warp wire sheds in the usual manner.

fabric loom of the same general type illustrated as much of the loommechanism as is necessary a The reed of the machine illustrated isindicated generally at 32 and it is composed of a plurality of dents 34formed from flat metal strips arranged on end in side-by-siderelationship to each other on the beater frame I 4 The dents are securedon the beater frame bymeans of a clamp 36 and are maintained in spacedrev lation to each other by a plurality of spacer washers 38 by means ofwhich the warp wire slots are formed. The multiplicity of dents aresecured together so as to form a unitary structure by means of tie rods40 which pass through aligned holes formed therein, the assemblage beingmade fast by nuts 42 secured to the rods 0.

A notch is provided on the forward edge of each dent at a pointintermediate the ends thereof. Thus when the dents are assembled theregistering notches form a weft wire' guide slot 44 which extendstransversely across the entire face of the reed panel 22.

The heater frame and reed of my present in- Referring to this Figure 9,the weft wire guide slot 44 formed by the registering notches in theforward face of each reed dent 34 comprises a guide for receiving andholding the weft wire advanced by the intermittently acting feed rollers60. This weft wire as fed by the rollers 60 passes successively throughthefixed guide III,

the flexible guide conduit 64, and the movable guide 66, and thus intoguide slot 44. The weft wire guide slot 44 of the instant application isidentical with the weft guideway 31 of my previous application. InFigure 9 I have shown a retractable closure 'II'I for the guide slot 44.This closure and its operating means are identical with similar partsshown in my co-pending patent application. The closure includes aboxlike member II'I arranged to bear on the front face. of the panel.The member II! is slidable vertically in suitable guides (not shownherein, but identical with members I9, Figures 8 and 9 of my co-pendingapplication). As in my copending application, the box-like member IIIhas secured thereto an angle bar N8 the horizontal leg of which isbolted to the box section as shown, the upright leg thereof being insliding engagement with the front face of the reed panel 32. The anglebar II8 will be elevated into the position of Figure 9 to afford aclosure for the slot 44. As in my co-pending application, theup-and-down sliding movement of the member I I1 and the angle bar 8secured thereto, is transmitted through a link -I I9 which receives itsmotion from a lever I (identical with lever 253 of my co-pendingapplication),

said lever carrying cam followers I22 and I24 coacting with cams I26 andI23 in identically the 4 same manner as shown in my co-pendingapplieffect the feeding movement. It is necessary that the rolls 60 inthe machine of the present invention, feed more weft wire lengths thanthe corresponding rolls of my prior patent, because of the novelconstruction of the weft wire feed as disclosed herein, which allows theweft wire lengths to be fed into the shed of the warp wires duringportions of both the forward and return strokes of the reed panel,whereas in my prior patent the disclosed machine allowed the weft wirelengths to be fed into the shed of warp wires during only a portion ofthe forward stroke of the reed panel. Therefore the mechanism in thepresent machine for raising and lowering the upper feed roll 60 has beengreatly speeded up to increase the rate of weft wire feed. From the feedrollers 60 the predetermined lengths of weft wire are successively fedthrough the stationary weft wire guide 62 via a flexible guide conduit64 to a movable weft wire feed guide 66 carried by the beater frame.

The novel features of the present invention which distinguish over myprior application and patent above referred to, as well as over anyother looms or wire working mechanism of which I have knowledge, relateto the improved weft wire guiding means which permits of a high speedweft wire feed during portions of both the forward and back stroke ofthe beater frame to now be described in detail.

The fixed weft wire guide 62 is made up of a plurality of closely groundand fitted pieces of steel so constructed and arranged that when theyare secured together a small rectangular opening or passageway 68 isprovided extending in the direction of the line of travel of the weftwire. This assemblage, shown in Figures 2,, 3, and 4, provides a closedpassageway 68 I which confines the weft wire being fed forwardly at ahigh rate of speed by the feed rolls 6B. The fixed guide assemblage isdesignated as a unit by the numeral I0, and it includes oppositelycurved or flared portions 12 'and 14 which flank the flexible guideconduit 64. This conduit may be conventionally formed of a closely woundcoil spring, one end of which is secured to the as-' 'semblage I0- andthe other end of which is se-' cured tothe movable guide 66.

ends are secured by fastening means I38 to the box-like member 1.

The weft wire W is supplied from. a reel 46 from which it is positivelydrawn by a puller drum 48 through an automatic slack maintaining guide50. The puller drum 48 delivers the.

,not 'be given herein. Sufllce it to say that one a of the rolls can beshifted toward and from the other, and the "weft wire will only be ad-;vanced when the uppermost intermittent feed roll 66 pushes the-wireagainst the lower roll to The movable guide 66 is also formed of aplurality of closely ground steel pieces so constructed and arranged asto provide a' closed guide passageway I6. The movable guideincludesflared members 18 and similar to the members 12 and I4 and the extremityof the flexible conduit 64 is disposed therebetween and so fastened thatthe guide passageway of member 64 is aligned accurately with the guidepassageway 16 of the movable guide.

Associated with the movable guide and integrated therewith there is awire shear element 62 having a weft wire guide groove 84 formed in theheaded extremity thereof. This shear element is shown in detail inFigure 7. Its guide tween the fixed movable guide elements.

- formed in the reed dents.

The movable guide 68 and the shear member 82 integrated therewith areseated in a rectangular notch 86 formed in the head 88 of a guide holder90 secured to a stub shaft 92 mounted in a block 94 which is secured bybolts 96 to the beater frame. riodically rocked by means of an arm 98secured thereto. The rocking movement-is ef fected through the coactionof a cam roller I secured to the arm which rides in a fixed cam grooveI02 formed in a cam plate I04 secured by suitable fastening means I 06to a fixed bracket I08 secured in any suitable manner to the side frameof the loom. With the parts thus constructed and arranged, it isapparent that as the beater frame makes its forward and return strokesthe interaction of the roller I00 and cam slot I02 will impart a rockingmotion to the movable wire guide and also to the shear element 82, sincethey are both carried by the pivotally mounted guide holder 90.

The shear element 82 slides over the outer face of a tool steel bladeIIO which corresponds in size and shape with the dents 34. This blade isalso formed with a slot aligned with the guide slots 44 formed in thereed dents, As thus arranged, it will be apparent that when'thecamactuated arm 98, together with the cam roller I00, reaches the activeportion N4 of the cam groove I02, the arm 98 is quickly depressed, thuscausing head 88 which carries the shear 82 to be rocked backward a shortdistance across the the side face of the blade H0, and thus sever theweft wire length carried by the covered slot 44 from that portion of theweft wire which occupies the weft wire guide groove 84, it beingremembered that-said guide groove 84 is a part of shear element 82mounted in head 88 which is, in turn a portion of the movable guide 68.Such severing of the weft wire is effected immediately after the feedrolls 60 are separated and therefore break contact with the weft wire.This occurs ata point in the operating cycle of the machine, at whichtime the beater frame 14 is approximately three-quarters of an inch fromthe end of its forward stroke. The beater frame actuating cam I6 is sodesigned as to im- .weft wire feed is continuous during three inches ofthe total four and one-half inch travel of the beater frame. Theshearing of the weft wire takes place durin about a three-fourths inchforward travel of he beater frame. During the three-fourths inch backstroke of the beater frame the cam I02 is effective to realign the guidepassageways I8 and 84 of the movable guide 86 and shear 82 with theguide slot 44 After the beater frame has traversed three-quarters of aninch of its backward stroke, the feed rolls 80 immediately start feedinga weft wire length into the guide slot incorporated in the-reed dentsand this feeding motion continues during the remaining backward travelof one and one-half inches of the beater frame and through the firstinch The shaft 92 is adapted to be peroller I00 of the shear operatingarm 98 travels in an arcuate portion II2 of the cam groove I02 which isconcentric with the beater frame rock shaft I2. Thus during this majorportion of the forward and reverse stroke of the beaterframe there is norelative movement between the movable guide and the frame which carriesit. However, when thec'am roller I00 reaches the active portion H4 ofthe cam groove, the arm 98 is quickly depressed, thus causing the shear82 in cooperation with the knife I I0, to sever the weft wire with ascissor-like action. During the remainder of the forward stroke of thebeater frame the cam roller I00 rides in another portion mi of. the camgroove which is also concentric with the beater frame rock shaft I2,this portion I I8 being 'on a smaller radius than the concentric portionII2. During the time the roller I 00 occupies the portion H6 of the camgroove, the guide passageway in the movable guide is out of alignmentwith the guide grooves of the the roller I00 rides in the part IIG ofthe cam slot,

at the extreme end of the forward stroke of the beater frame. 1

From the foregoing it is apparent that the parts shown and described areso combined and coordinated that a high rate of production can bemaintained on the machine since it is unnecessary to cause the beaterframe to dwell for the purpose of feeding the weftwire into the reeddents thereof. The described mechanism requires precision timing, but itenables high speed production. By adoption of the invention it has beenpossible to speed up the number of strokes of the beater frame per unitof time to such an extent as to increase the rate of production by about30 per cent.

There are problems involved when flimsy wire stock, such as that handledby the present machine, is manipulated at a high rate of speed. Oneproblem concerns the accurate aligning of the severed end with thegroove of the beater frame, because of the inherent tendency of wire tosprin out of alignment after being severed. Another problem arisesbecause of thetendency of a rapidly moving flimsy wire to vibrate orwhip whenmoved back and forth.

- I have overcome both these problems in part by I the utilization ofthe design and arrangement During the time the weft wire is being fed,the 70 of the fixed and movable guides shown and in part by theprovision of the flexible guide conduit which at all times confines theoncoming weft wire. This flexible conduit prevents whipping of that partof the wire which extends across or bridges the gap between the fixedguide and the movable guide. The curved or flared members 12, 74, I8 andforming part of the fixed and movable guides, respectively, serve toprevent the flexible conduit from taking too sharp a bend, whichoccurrence would tend to impair the easy travel of the weft wiretherethrough. When the beater frame I4 is in motion, the flexible guideconduit alternately contacts the flared members and thus avibrationdampening action is exerted on the guide conduit itself and itis prevented from having an objectionable whipping motion impartedthereto as a result of the high speed of operation.

While in the foregoing description I have described coactinginstrumentalitles, the practicability of which has been demonstrated bya reduction to practice on a commercially success-. in] basis, it is notto be construed that I am limited thereto since various changes inarrangement and substitutions of equivalents may be made by thoseskilled in the art within the scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

i I claim:'

1. A wire fabricating machine including a beater frame, means forinterweaving warp wires and weft wires, characterized by the novelfeatures of respective fixed and movable weft wire guides securedrespectively to a fixed part of the machine and to said beater frame anda flexible conduit secured at its opposite ends to said fixed andmovable guides.

2. A wire fabricating machine including a beater frame, means forinterweaving warp wires and weft wires, characterized by the novelfeatures of respective fixed and movable weft wire guides, a flexibleconduit secured at its opposite ends to said fixed and movable guidesand secured respectively to a fixed part of the machine and to saidbeater frame, and respective pairs of flared members secured to saidfixed and movable guides for coaction with said conduit.

3. A wire fabricating machine including means for interweaving warpwires and weft wires, characterized by the novel features of respectivefixed and movable weft wire guides, a flexible guide conduit bridgingthe gap between the fixed and movable guides, the movable guide beingcarried by a beater frame which is provided with reed dents slotted toform a weft wire guideway, and means for feeding weft wire into saidguideway of the beater frame during portions of both the forward andbackward strokes thereof.

4. A wire fabricating machine including a weft wire supply and means forintermittently feeding wire therefrom, a movable beater frame carryingreed dents grooved to receive said weft wire, aflxed weft wire guidemember receiving wire from said supply, a movable weft wire guide membercar-- ried by said beater frame, and a flexible weft wire guide conduitconnecting said fixed and movable guide members.

5. A wire fabricating machine including a weft wire supply and means forintermittently feeding wire therefrom, a movable beater frame carmovethe movable guide relative to the beater frame, a shear mounted on thecarrier, said beater frame carrying a blade for cooperation with saidshear, a fixed weft wire guide, and a flexible weft wire conduitbridging the space between the fixed guide and the movable guide.

'7. In a wire fabricating machine, a movably mounted beater frame, meansfor imparting a forward and return stroke thereto, reed dents carried bythe beater frame and having aligned slots therein adapted to receive theweft wire, a holder pivotally mounted on the beater frame, a movableweft wire guide and a shear element secured to said holder, a bladecarried by the beater frame in position for coaction with said shear, afixed cam, an operating lever having a roller cooperating therewith andoperatively connected with said holder and effective upon movement ofthe beater frame to move the respective guide passageways in the movableguide and shear into and out of alignment with the guide slots formed insaid reed dents, a fixed weft wire guide member, and means forperiodically feeding weft wire through the fixed and movable guide mem-I bers into the guide slot formed by the notches in the reed dents,during portions of both the forward and return stroke of said heaterframe.

8. In a wire fabricating machine, a movably mounted beater frame, meansfor imparting a forward and return stroke thereto, reed dents carried bythe beater frame and having aligned slots therein adapted to receive theweft wire, a holder pivotally mounted on the beater frame, a movableweft wire guide and a shear element secured to said holder, a bladecarried by the beater frame in position for coaction with said shear, afixed cam, \an operating lever having a roller cooperating therewith andoperatively connected with said holder and effective upon movement ofthe beater frame to move the respective guide passageways in the movableguide and shear into and out of alignment with the guide slots formed insaid reed dents, a fixed weft wire guide member, means for periodicallyfeeding weft wire through the fixed and movable guide members into theguide slot formed by the rying reed dents grooved to receive said weftwire,

a fixed weft wire guide member receiving wirefrom said supply, a movableweft wire guide member carried by said beater frame, a flexible weftwire guide conduit connecting said fixed and movable guide members, andrespective pairs of outwardly flared members carried by said fixed andflanking said notches in the reed dents during portions of both theforward and return stroke of said beater frame, and a closely woundspring-like weft wire conduit bridging the space between the fixed guideand the movable guide.

9. vA wire fabricating machine including, in combination with the beaterframe and weft wire feeding means thereof; a fixed weft wire guidehaving a passageway through which weft wire travels and having a pair offlared members secured thereto and flanking said passageway, a movableguide carried by the beater frame also having a passageway through whichweft wire ing a pivotally mounted beater frame carrying reed dentshaving guide slots therein adapted to] receive weft wire, means foroscillating said frame, a carrier pivotally mounted on the beat- -erframe, a movable weft wire guide secured to I said carriena fixed camand connections between the cam and the movable carrier effective totravels, another pair of flared members flanking the passageway inthe-movable guide, and av coiled spring-like flexible guide elementsecured at one end to the fixed guide between the flared members thereofand at its other end to the movable guide between the'flared members ofsaid movable guide.

NOAH 5. HARTER.

